CLEVELAND (AP) -- Tim Couch isn't the first rookie quarterback with a rifle arm to be drafted No. 1 overall and nurtured through his NFL growing pains by Chris Palmer.

The Browns coach also helped make Drew Bledsoe what he is today: the AFC's top-rated quarterback and the single biggest reason the New England Patriots are undefeated.

So if Bledsoe throws for 400 yards and four TDs against the winless Browns, Palmer will have to share the blame with his defense.

After all, Bledsoe is a monster he helped create.

While breaking down game film on New England this week, Palmer was able to reminisce about his days coaching Bledsoe while trying to figure out how to stop him and the Patriots.

"They're probably playing the best football I've seen them play in the last couple of years since we were with them at the Super Bowl," said Palmer, a Patriots assistant from 1993-96. "And Bledsoe is having an MVP season. He is in a zone right now. It's a pleasure to watch him effortlessly throw the ball."

Pleasure will give way to pain for Palmer if Bledsoe lights up Cleveland's injury-depleted secondary.

"They're explosive," said Palmer. "They have Terry Glenn and Shawn Jefferson who can run like there's no tomorrow, (tight end Ben) Coates is doing a nice job over the middle. Troy Brown is impressive on third down. Oh, yeah, and Terry Allen running the ball. Other than that, they're just another team."

But it's Bledsoe, as Palmer knows, who makes the Patriots (3-0) complete.

"He is the spaghetti sauce," Palmer said. "He covers a lot of mistakes."

Palmer is at least partially responsible for Bledsoe's development into one of the NFL's premier passers. After coaching Patriots wide receivers for three years, Palmer became the team's quarterbacks coach in '96.

He helped refine Bledsoe's skills after the quarterback sustained a shoulder injury the year before.

"Coming off the '95 season I'd struggled," Bledsoe said. "I'd had an injury to my left shoulder. The first thing he did when he came in was he really went to work on my fundamentals, got me back to where I was throwing the ball with sound fundamentals."

Bledsoe led the Patriots to the Super Bowl that season, an accomplishment that still fills Palmer with pride.

The two became close friends, bonding the way a teacher might with a star pupil. Bledsoe said Palmer was both mentor and protector. When he played poorly, Bledsoe expected to hear about it from head coach Bill Parcells. However, many times it was Palmer who took the brunt of a Parcells storm.

"He was a nice buffer between Bill and myself," Bledsoe said. "Bill was not particularly hard on me, but if things weren't going well he would take his wrath out on Chris. Chris would come to me and explain things calmly and coolly and we would move on. He was an excellent, excellent quarterback coach for me and particularly at that time in my career."

Couch's brief pro career has already paralleled Bledsoe's. Both were No. 1 picks; both began with struggling teams; and both were named starters early in their rookie seasons -- Bledsoe in Week 1, Couch in Week 2.

Couch seems to gain confidence with every snap, something Palmer predicted and Bledsoe remembered from his first season. But Couch hasn't had much help as he has tried to move the Browns offense.

In a 17-10 loss at Baltimore last week, a game the Browns (0-3) were in until late in the fourth quarter, Couch had several passes dropped. And in three games, Cleveland has had little running attack. Couch enters Sunday as the Browns' second leading rusher.

"I think what this offense needs to do is to put together some long sustained drives and build some confidence," Couch said. "I think we are capable of doing that. We just have to go out there and execute."

Bledsoe said he can hear himself back in '93 muttering the same things he now hears from Couch.

"It is a process that you have to go through when you're a top draft pick," he said. "You know you're not going to have the most talented team in the league when you come in. You can see that he's already made progress. But it's a long process and the No. 1 thing he has to have is patience.

"He has to learn and continue to maintain his confidence while they go through their early struggles. He has a great advantage, though, in that Chris is a very good quarterbacks coach who will put him in situations where he can succeed. He will not try to give Tim things he can't handle."

NEW ENGLAND Season schedule and results

CLEVELAND Season schedule and results

September 12 @NY Jets W 30-28 September 19 Indianapolis W 31-28 September 26 NY Giants W 16-14 October 3 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET October 10 @Kansas City 1:00pm ET October 17 Miami 1:00pm ET October 24 Denver 1:00pm ET October 31 @Arizona 4:05pm ET November 15 NY Jets 9:00pm ET November 21 @Miami 1:00pm ET November 28 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET December 5 Dallas 8:20pm ET December 12 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET December 26 Buffalo 1:00pm ET January 2 Baltimore 1:00pm ET

September 12 Pittsburgh L 0-43 September 19 @Tennessee L 9-26 September 26 @Baltimore L 10-17 October 3 New England 1:00pm ET October 10 Cincinnati 1:00pm ET October 17 @Jacksonville 1:00pm ET October 24 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET October 31 @New Orleans 1:00pm ET November 7 Baltimore 1:00pm ET November 14 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm ET November 21 Carolina 1:00pm ET November 28 Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 5 @San Diego 4:15pm ET December 12 @Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 19 Jacksonville 1:00pm ET December 26 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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